The Counterfeiters
What:
The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)
When:
Opens May 8
Where:
Cinema Nova
Palace Cinema Como
Rivoli Cinema
Watch the trailer:
Here
Win:
We have ten double passes to The Counterfeiters to give away. For your chance to win email win@threethousand.com.au with subject line 'I once tried making my own five buck note to spend on chips at the canteen'
In 1949, philosopher Theodor Adorno said: "To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” It’s this fear that instantly hamstrings most Holocaust films, and colours the true story of The Counterfeiters.
A group of Jewish prisoners in a concentration camp are forced to forge foreign currency for the Nazis, receiving special treatment for their skills, but facing the creeping guilt that they’re aiding the enemy. (Why is it that watching counterfeiting procedures is always so goddamn fascinating?)
Despite the expected immensity of horror, some early scenes are curiously unmoving. A smattering of cheesy lines and a fairly awful soundtrack don’t help. When we first see an Auschwitz tattoo, there’s an ominous music sting worthy of a panto.
But watch for by Karl Markovics’ inscrutable, occasionally Cool Hand Luke-ish hero. Watch for Devid Striesow’s charming villain – he’s the evil doppelganger of Claude Rains’ Captain Renault. And watch for the final third, where idealism, morality, survival, and guilt intersect, tearing right through the heart of the film.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Smarts
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